Vehicle



April 1929. (5. MARKLEIN 1,711,059

VEHICLE Filed July 22, 1927 s sheets-sheet 1 S oauto'c 2 0. MARKLEINApril 30, 1929.

VEHICLE Filed July 22, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet o. MARKLEIN 1,711,059

VEHICLE 3 Sheets-Shem 3 April 30, 1929.

Filed July 22, 1927 If II 111 I [I]! 1111/! 1 Ir III/III Patented Apr.30, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO MARKLEIN, F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK,ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM R. BISHOP, OF

BROOKLYN,

NEW YORK.

VEHICLE.

Application filed July 22,

The invention relates to trailers such as are used in connection with atractor, and capable of being temporarily coupled thereto or uncoupledtherefrom, and relates particularly to means for supporting the forwardend of such a trailer when the same is disengaged from its tractor.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide strong, simple andeasily operated mechanism for the purposes above pointed out and others.

The invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement andcombination of various devices, elements and parts, as set forth in theclaims hereof, one embodiment out the same being illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and described in this specitication.

In the said drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a trailer provided with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a portion of Fi 1 on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 2;

Fig. l is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of a portion of theinvention comprising the winding drum hereinafter to be de scribed; and

5 is a plan view of Fig. 4.

Figs. 3, 7 and 8 are detail views herein de scribed.

In carrying my invention into effect in the embodiment thereof which Ihave selected for illustration in the accompanying drawings and fordescription in this specification. I provide a trailer oi the usual orany suitable type such as is adapted to be coupled on to a tractor anduncoupled therefrom in a manner which will be well understood. Thedevices for coupling and uncoupling the tractor and trailer iiorni nopart oi the present invention and need not be here described. as thepresent invention relates primarily to the means provided to support theforward end of the trailer when it is uncoupled from the tractor, and tothe means provided for raising said supporting means out of operativeposition when the tractor and trailer are coupled to gether, andallowing such supporting means to drop again into operative positionwhen it 1927. Serial No. 207,762.

is desired to support the forward end of the trailer independent of thetractor.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, 11 designates a part of thechassis frame of the trailer, 12 one of the rear wheels thereof, and 13one of the supporting springs.

Near the front end of the chassis are provided downwardly extendingbrackets 14, one on each side, to each of which brackets is pivotallysecured a support or leg 15, each of which supports or legs hearing atits lower end a wheel 16. said legs 15 and wheels 16, one on each sideof the vehicle, being connected and braced together by a transverse rod17, which may also serve as the axle for the wheels 16. i J

Extending rearwardly from the lower end of each leg 15 is a bracket 18to which is pivotally secured one end of a rod 19, the other end ofwhich extends upwardly and rearwardly and is pivotally secured to asliding member, the lower portion only of which is seen in Fig. 1.

The sliding member above referred to is shown in detail in Figs. 6, 7and 8. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the same looking endwisc of Fig. 1,Fig. 7 is perspective view of an auxiliary member adapted tobe assembledwith the casting shown in Fig. 6, and Fig. 8 is a view looking in thesame direction as in Fig. 6, showing the two castings shown in Figs. 6and T assembled together and placed in the proper position in thevehicle, as now described. i

The casting shown in Fig. 6 is provided with downwardly extendingbrackets 20, laterally extending members 28 each of which is providedwith a groove 29, and with upwardly extending members 30 perforated asshown at 31. The grooves 29 are adapted to engage with the lower flangesof channel-irons 25h, which are supported as follows: Extending acrossfromone to the other of the side frames of the chassis are twotransverse members 22 and 32. which will perhaps be better understood byreference to Fig. 1. These transverse members are angle-irons, eachofwhich is bolted at each end to the respective lower flanges of thechassis side frames 11. To these transverse members 22 and 32respectively are secured the rear and forward ends of the channel-irons24:. As will be seen from Fig. 1, these channel-irons 24 are consideably smaller in all their dimensions than the channel-irons 11 of thechassis frame, but as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 these channel-irons 2e arerepresented on a considerably enlarged scale so that they appear aslarge or larger thanthe chassis frame channel-irons in F ig. 1.

Extending across from one to the other of the smaller channel-irons 2d,and bolted to the upper flanges thereof, is an angle-iron 25. This isbest shown in F 2 and 3, but its relation to the other part of themechanism may be better understood reference to Fig. 1. To thisangle-iron bolted one end of a rack member 26, the other end of which isbolted at33 to a channel-iron 23, which, similarly to the angle-iron 22,extends across between the chassis frame channel-irons 11, its middleport-ion passing over the smaller channel-irons 24;.

The two rods 19 which extend up *ardly and raarwardly from the brackets18 of the legs 15, converge so that their upper ends are near together,and these upperends are pivotally connected at 2'? to thedownwardlyextending brackets 20 of the sliding member which has just beendescribed.

In Fig. 7 is shown a member provided with a base 35 having a perforation37, and two upwardly extending arms 36 each having a perforation 38.This member is assembled with the member shown in Fig. 6 by placing thesame between the members 30 of 6 so that the perforations 37 and 31 inthese two members register with each other. The appearance of the devicewhen assembled is shown in Fig. 8,'which figure will also make clear therelation of the assembled sliding member to the small channel frames 2%,the lower flanges of which, as will be seen in Fig. 8, engage with thegrooves 29. It will of course be understood that the members shown inFigs. 6 and 7, although shown and de scribed as separate in thisembodiment of my invention, may if desired be Constructed as oneintegral casting.

As will be best seen in Fig. 2, but is also shown in Fig. l, a pawlmember ll) is pivotally see red at 41 between the upwardly extendingmembers 36 of the sliding member, the free end of which pawl member isadapted to engage with the rack 26.

Pivotally mounted at 51 upon the end of a rod 52, the other end of whichextends through the perforations 3i and 37 of the sliding member and isrigidly secured thereto, is a swinging member 50, the downwardlyextending leg of which is provided with a slidably adjustablecounterweight 5%. This swinging member is provided in its upperflared-out portion with a slot 55 with which engages a'pin 56 on thepawl 40, so that when the swingingmember is rotated in a clockwisedirection the pawl will be lifted out of engagement with the rack 26. Acord (30 is secured to the leg of the swinging member and passesrearwardly and over the pulley 6i and then. forwardly to the windingdrum mechanism shown in Figs. i and 5.

This winding mechanism is situated at the extreme forward portion of thetrailer. It is not shown in Fig. 1, the extreme forward portion of thetrailer being broken away for reasons of convenlence and to save space,but

this forward portion with the winding mechanism thereon is shown on asomewhat enlarged scale in Figs. l and 5. Upon referring to thesefigures, it will be seen that the chassis side frames 11 are continuedforward at a somewhat higher elevation than is the portion shown in Fig.1, the forward ends of the same being joined together by a transversemember 70. To this transverse member is bolted the rear part of a frame71, which has two forwardly extending members 72, in the forward ends ofwhich. is journaled a shaft 73 upon which is rigidly mounted the windingdrum T l to which is attached the forward end of the cord 60. One end ofsaid shaft projects out beyond the frame member T2 and bears thei'nechanism for rotating said shaft and winding drum for the purpose ofwinding up the cord 60. This mechanism eoniprises a lever 7 5 the lowerend of which is pivotally mounted upon the shaft- (3 and the upper endof which may be provided for convenience in operation with a handle 76;to the upper end of this handle may be if desired pivotally attached alink 77 having at one end a loop 78 adapted to engage with the fork inthe upper end of an upwardly extending member 79 the lower end of whichis bolted at 80 to the transverse member To, this link 77 being for thepurpose of holding the lever 75 stationary in an upright position whendesired.

To the lever T 5 is pivotally attached at a pawl 81, the upper end ofwhich is connected by a spring 82 t6 the lever '75. This pawl Si isadapted to engage with a rack 83 fast on the shaft 73.

Referring to Fig. 5 it will be seen that to one of the frame members isbolted a bracket 85. to the forward end, of which is pivotally secured apawl 36, the forward end of which engages with the rack 83 and therearward end of which is yieldably connected by a swing 3? to the framemember T2. It will be seen tha t by means of this nloclianisnn when thelever 75 is swung forwards the pawl Sl O} )Gl2ti 3t5 to rotate thewinding drum Tl in a clockwise directitm with respect to Fig. i, butthat when the lever 75 is swung back again. to the vertical position asshown in Fig. t. the reverse rotation of the winding drinn T l isprevented by the pawl 36, the pawl 31 meanwhile slipping backward overthe rack '83 so as to get a hold on another portion of the same andcontinue the rotation when the lever is again swung forward. \VhenWinding up the cord 60 on the drum 74, the lever 75 must not be movedfurther back than the vertical position shown in Fig. 4, as by doing sothe pawls would be released as described in the next paragraph.

l/Vhen it is desired to allow the winding drum 74 to rotate backwardsand unwind the cord 60, the lever 75 is moved backward so that the lowerend of the pawl 81 is brought into contact with the pin 90 and therebydisengaged from the rack 83, and upon continuing the backward motion ofthe lever 75, the lower end of the pawl 81 strikes the lower portion ofthe pawl 86 and depresses it, thereby disengaging it also from the rack83. The said rack being thus free to rotate in a counterclockwisedirection, the weight of the wheels 16, arms 15, and other partsconnected therewith draw the sliding member forwards, drawing with itthe cord 60 and thereby unwinding same from the drum 74.

The operation of the invention has already been to some extent alludedto in what has been above said as to the construction, but may be wellfor the sake of clearness to briefly recapitulate the same. hen thetrailer, the greater portion of which is shown in Fig. 1, is loaded andis to be transferred to some other place by having its forward endcoupled to a tractor, and when it is desired to elevate the devices forsupporting the forward end of the trailer, the operator disengages thelink 77 from the member '79, and reciprocates the lever 75 forward andbackward, taking care, however, to not draw the lever 75 further backthan the perpendicular position shown in Fig. 4. This reciprocatingmot-i on of the lever winds up the cord 60 upon the drum Tet. in amanner which will be quite obvious, thereby drawing the member 50rearward, thereby swinging the pawl out of engagement with the rack 26,and upon the continued rearward motion of the member the sliding member20 draws the rods 19 backward, swinging the legs 15 and the wheels 16upward into the position. shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The lever 75is then secured ag inst accidental displacen'icnt by the link "T7. 1

\VliLll it is desired to disen the tractor from the trailer, it becomesnecessary to proride a support for the forward end of the trailer, andthis is done by drawing the lever 75 backwards so as to disengage thepawls 81 and 86 from the rack 83 in the manner which has been alreadyexplained, and allowing the cord to unwind from the drum 74, whereuponthe wheels 16 drop into place and support the forward end of thetrailer, whereupon the tractor may be uncoupled and taken away.

The advantages of the invention will he obvious from what has been abovesaid with regard to its construction and mode of operation.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. In a trailer adapted to be used in connection with a tractor by whichthe front end of the trailer is supported and adapted also to be usedfree of said tractor, means adapted to support the front portion of saidtrailer when the same is free of said tractor, comprising in combinationa leg swingingly connected to said trailer, a sliding member on saidtrailer, a link connecting said leg with said sliding member, a windingdrum, a cable one end of which is secured to said sliding member and theother end to said drum, means adapted to rotate said drum in the windingdirection when desired, means adapted to hold said drum stationary whendesired, and means adapted to release said holding means and allow thecable wound upon said drum to unwind therefrom, said means comprising ashaft upon which a circular rack also fast on said shaft, a pawl adaptedto engage with said rack and hold the same against rotation in onedirection, an operating lever pivotally mounted on said shaft, and apawl pivotally mounted on said lever and adapted to engage with saidrack and rotate the same when said lever is moved in one direction.

2; In a trailer adapted to be used in connection with a tractor by whichthe front end of the trailer is supported and adapted also to be usedfree of said tractor, means adapted to support the front portion of whenthe same is free of said tractor, comprising in combinationa leg movablyconnected to said trailer, a sliding member on said trailer, a linkconnecting said leg with said sliding member, a winding drum, a cableone end of which is secured to said sliding member and the other end tosaid drum, means adapted to rotate said drum in the winding directionwhen desired, means adapted to hold said drum stationary when desired,and means adapted to release said holding means and allow the cablewound upon said drum to unwind therefrom, said means comprising a shaftupon which said drum is fast, a circular rack also fast on said shaft, apawl adapted to engage with said rack and hold the same against rotationin one direction, an operating lever pivotally mounted on said shaft, apawl pivotally mounted on said lever and adapted to engage with saidrackyand rotate the same when said lever is moved in one direction, andmeans adapted to disengage said pawls from said rack.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 30th day of June,1927.

OTTO MARKLEIN.

said drum is fast,

said trailer

